The Coming Parent Revolt Over School Reopening

They will not sit by while Democrats and teachers unions neglect their children.

The public health community has long since concluded that the perils of prolonged school closures are far greater than the risks posed by COVID-19 to students and teachers. This fact has not been lost on parents, who are growing increasingly impatient with teachers who won’t return to the classroom. This frustration will increase exponentially now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidance on how schools can and should safely reopen: “It is critical for schools to open as safely and as soon as possible, and remain open, to achieve the benefits of in-person learning and key support services.”

In most red states, public schools opened up last fall for full time in-person instruction or some hybrid of in-person and distance learning. The blue states have, however, been considerably more dilatory about reopening. These states are, of course, governed by Democrats who are bought and paid for by the teachers unions. During the most recent election cycle, for example, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) contributed a combined total of $43.6 million to Democrats and outside spending groups that support them. In the reopening debate, money talks and science walks. Ask California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom is facing a recall effort that is steadily gaining steam. “Rescue California” has already collected 1.5 million “raw” signatures (1,495,709 verified signatures are required to put the question before the voters). And there can be little doubt that those signatures include many from parents enraged over the governor’s failure to rein in the teachers unions and reopen the schools. Moreover, the increasing frustration is bipartisan. A lot of progressives have grown tired of their children being held hostage by teachers and their unions. Rebecca Bodenheimer, Ph.D, is an excellent example. In “A progressive parent’s rant about the politics surrounding school reopening,” Bodenheimer writes: